The Doctrine of Repentance (Puritan Paperbacks)

by Thomas Watson

Repentance is purgative; fear not the working of this pill. Smite your soul, said Chrysostom, smite it; it will escape death by that stroke. How happy it would be if we were more deeply affected with sin, and our eyes did swim in their orb. We may clearly see the Spirit of God moving in the waters of repentance, which though troubled, are yet pure. Moist tears dry up sin and quench the wrath of God. Repentance is the cherisher of piety, the procurer of mercy. The more regret and trouble of spirit we have first at our conversion, the less we shall feel afterwards.

This seems to contradict the modern interpretation of Romans 8:1. People say our sin is paid for, so relax. How do we grieve for our sin without doubting God's love for us? It seems we must somehow! "Weep and wail."

Christians, do you have a sad resentment of other things and not of sin? Worldly tears fall to the earth, but godly tears are kept in a bottle (Ps. 56.8). Judge not holy weeping superfluous. Tertullian thought he was born for no other end but to repent. Either sin must drown or the soul burn.

It seems tears can quench the fire? Only by Christ's righteousness...

Let it not be said that repentance is difficult. Things that are excellent deserve labour. Will not a man dig for gold in the ore though it makes him sweat? It is better to go with difficulty to heaven, than with ease to hell.

while we are on this side of the grave, make our peace with God! Tomorrow may be our dying day; let this be our repenting day. How we should imitate the saints of old who embittered their souls and sacrificed their lusts, and put on sackcloth in the hope of white robes. Peter baptized himself with tears;

Besides our own personal miscarriages, the deplorable condition of the land calls for a contribution of tears. Have we not lost much of our pristine fame and renown?

The well-wisher of your soul's happiness, THOMAS WATSON

God first sent him to the Jews at Damascus and afterwards enlarged his commission to preach to the Gentiles. And the subject he preached on was this, 'That they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance' (v. 20). A weighty and excellent subject!

"First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds." That is identical to John the Baptist's gospel!

we see the fruits of repentance first, but beginnings of faith were there before.

because repentance, being a grace, must be exercised by one that is living. Now, how does the soul live but by faith? 'The just shall live by his faith' (Heb. 10.38). Therefore there must be first some seeds of faith in the heart of a penitent, otherwise it is a dead repentance and so of no value.

'Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand' (Matt. 3.2); 'Repent therefore, and be converted that your sins may be blotted out' (Acts 3.19); 'Repent of this thy wickedness' (Acts 8.22). In the mouths of three witnesses this truth is confirmed. Repentance is a foundation grace: 'Not laying again the foundation of repentance' (Heb. 6.1). That religion which is not built upon this foundation must needs fall to the ground.

Repentance is a grace required under the gospel. Some think it legal; but the first sermon that Christ preached, indeed, the first word of his sermon, was 'Repent' (Matt. 4.17).

his farewell that he left when he was going to ascend was that 'repentance should be preached...

The apostles did all beat upon this string: 'They went out and preached that men sh...

The covenant of works admitted no repentance; there it was, sin and die. Repentan...

Christ has purchased in his blood that repenting sinne...

The law required personal, perfect, and perpe...

It cursed all who could not come up to this: 'Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them' (Gal. 3.10). It does not say, he that obeys not all things, let him repent, but, let him be cursed. Thus repentance is a doctrine that has been brought to light only by the gospel.

News to me

The Spirit in the word illuminates and converts. When the Spirit touches a heart it dissolves with tears: ‘I will pour upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace...and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn' (Zech. 12.10).

that saying of Augustine that 'repentance damns many'. He meant a false repentance; a person may delude himself with counterfeit repentance.

Ahab and Judas had some trouble of mind. It is one thing to be a terrified sinner and another to be a repenting sinner.

There may be terror, yet with no change of heart.

We see by experience what protestations a person will make when he is on his sick-bed, if God should recover him again; yet he is as bad as ever. He shows his old heart in a new temptation.

Trust not to a passionate resolution; it is raised in a storm and will die in a calm.

A man may part with some sins and keep others, as Herod reformed many things that were amiss but could not leave his incest.

An old sin may be left in order to entertain a new, as you put off an old servant to take another. This is to exchange a sin. Sin may be exchanged and the heart remained unchanged. He who was a prodigal in his youth turns usurer in his old age. A slave is sold to aJew; the Jew sells him to a Turk. Here the master is changed, but he is a slave still. So a man moves from one vice to another but remains a sinner still.

A sin may be left not so much from strength of grace as from reasons of prudence. A man sees that though such a sin be for his pleasure, yet it is not for his interest. It will eclipse his credit, prejudice his health, impair hi...

True leaving of sin is when the acts of sin cease from the infusion of a principle of grace, as the air ceases to be dark from the infusion of light.

I cannot recall this ever happening to me, but I have sought it many times, in many ways, with many friends

Repentance is a grace of God's Spirit whereby a sinner is inwardly humbled and visibly reformed. For a further amplification, know that repentance is a spiritual medicine made up of six special ingredients: 1. Sight of sin 2. Sorrow for sin 3. Confession of sin 4. Shame for sin 5. Hatred for sin 6. Turning from sin

The first part of Christ's physic is eye-salve (Acts 26.18).

to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.

The eye is made both for seeing and weeping.

Is it not strange that two should live together, and eat and drink together, yet not know each other? Such is the case of a sinner. His body and soul live together, work together, yet he is unacquainted with himself. He knows not his own heart, nor what a hell he carries about him. Under a veil a deformed face is hid. Persons are veiled over with ignorance and self-love; therefore they see not what deformed souls they have.

Men have insight enough into worldly matters, but the eye of their mind is smitten.

Ambrose calls sorrow the embittering of the soul.

They shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn' (Zech. 12.10), as if they did feel the nails of the cross sticking in their sides.

He that can believe without doubting, suspect his faith; and he that can repent without sorrowing, suspect his repentance.

Martyrs shed blood for Christ, and penitents shed tears for sin: 'she stood at Jesus' feet weeping' (Luke 7.38).

Though the bread of sorrow be bitter to the taste, yet it strengthens the heart (Ps. 104.15; 2 Cor. 7-10).

This sorrow for sin is not superficial: it is a holy agony. It is called in scripture a breaking of the heart: 'The sacrifices of God are a broken and a contrite heart' (Ps. 51.17); and a rending of the heart: 'Rend your heart' (Joel 2.13). The expressions of smiting on the thigh (Jer. 31.19), beating on the breast (Luke 18.13), putting on of sackcloth (Isa. 22.12), plucking off the hair (Ezra 9.3), all these are but outward signs of inward sorrow.

How welcome is a surgeon to a man who is bleeding from his wounds!

To make way for solid comfort: They that sow in tears shall reap in joy' (Ps. 126.5).

But not all sorrow evidences true repentance.

It is a sorrow of the heart. The sorrow of hypocrites lies in their faces: 'they disfigure their faces'

The heart bleeds for sin: 'they were pricked in their heart' (Acts 2.37). As the heart bears a chief part in sinning, so it must in sorrowing.

A wicked man may be troubled for scandalous sins; a real convert laments heart-sins.

Godly sorrow is ingenuous It is sorrow for the offence rather than for the punishment. God's law has been infringed, his love abused. This melts the soul in tears. A man may be sorry, yet not repent, as a thief is sorry when he is taken, not because he stole, but because he has to pay the penalty. Hypocrites grieve only for the bitter consequence of sin.

Pharaoh was more troubled for the frogs and river of blood than for his sin. Godly sorrow, however, is chiefly for the trespass against God, so that even if there were no conscience to smite, no devil to accuse, no hell to punish, yet the soul would still be grieved because of the prejudice done to God.

O that I should offend so good a God, that I should grieve my Comforter! This breaks my heart!

Godly sorrow shows itself to be ingenuous because when a Christian knows that he is out of the gun-shot of hell and shall never be damned, yet still he grieves for sinning against that free grace which has pardoned him.

Spiritual sorrow will sink the heart if the pulley of faith does not raise it. As our sin is ever before us, so God's promise must be ever before us. As we much feel our sting, so we must look up to Christ our brazen serpent. Some have faces so swollen with worldly grief that they can hardly look out of their eyes. That weeping is not good which blinds the eye of faith. If there are not some dawnings of faith in the soul, it is not the sorrow of humiliation but of despair.

In the new birth all have pangs, but some have sharper pangs than others.